Wellington Architectural Centre


The Architectural Centre Inc is a nonprofit organization in Wellington, New Zealand, for architects and laypeople with an interest in architecture which offers lectures, site visits, tours and exhibitions.

History of the centre

The centre was established in 1946 in Wellington, New Zealand. It ran the first architectural school in Wellington, and the first town planning school in New Zealand. It also ran the Centre Gallery, an early venue for exhibiting modern art, and published Design Review – one of the first design-oriented journals in New Zealand.
The centre has also held many exhibitions, including:
  • Te Aro Replanned
  • Vertical Living/ Living in Cities
  • 196X
  • Harbour Front
  • Unbuilt Wellington
  • Home made Home
  • Reclaiming
  • Manifesto exhibition
It has lobbied the Wellington City Council about issues to do with Wellington's built environment and run competitions, such as the annual 20under40 24 hour ideas competition, which began in 1990. More recently, the Architectural Centre published an architectural manifesto, and has been a partner in the organisation of Wellington Architecture Week.
Past and present members of the Architectural Centre include:
Membership is about 150, and a regular newsletter is published.